February 12, 2018 | Organizers of the new PlayCon have announced that a senior designer at Google has been added to the conference’s strong line-up of speakers. Victoria Fang, the UX (user experience) lead for new kid-friendly features launched by Google, will share leading edge insight on emerging technologies during a special presentation at the May 8 to 9 conference in San Francisco, CA.

During her presentation, “Google Assistant for Kids & Families: Conversation, AI, and Play,” Fang will highlight more than 50 games, stories, and activities tailored to kids and families recently introduced on Google Assistant, its virtual personal assistant app which can engage in two-way conversations and is primarily available on mobile and smart home devices, including Google Home. PlayCon attendees will learn about Google’s processes for the initiative, and why the tech giant is excited about the future of kids and play.

Register for PlayCon, taking place May 8 to 9 in San Francisco. Visit the PlayCon site for a list of up-to-date speakers, hotel information, and other news about the industry’s premier conference for play professionals.

Fang has been with Google since 2015. As the UX lead for Google's Assistant for Kids & Families team, she leads a team of designers and writers dedicated to making kids’ experiences with Google more intuitive and meaningful. Fang has worked for companies including Intel Labs and Frog Design. She has been focused on the kid's space for the last five years, with projects spanning kid's coding, Maker initiatives, and robots.

“With the theme #PlayForward, the new PlayCon is looking to take knowledge from the biggest thinkers in business today and share it with the toy community – information that will be available to them all in one place,” says Marian Bossard, The Toy Association’s executive vice president of global market events. “Exclusive tips from Google will no doubt help attendees take their businesses to the next level. We are ecstatic to have Victoria Fang join us at PlayCon.”

More than a dozen thought-leaders, industry analysts, toy influencers, consumer product executives, and other motivational speakers will lead PlayCon’s short “TED Talk”-like sessions, delivering ideas as diverse as their professional backgrounds.

Each week Toy News Tuesday will feature a new and noteworthy name from the impressive roster of PlayCon speakers. Last week, we highlighted Trend Hunter’s Armida Ascano and Courtney Scharf, who will lead two sessions at the conference. Check back after Toy Fair for another speaker highlight.